Hong Kong inferno toll rises to 146

The death toll in the fire at seven high-rise residential buildings in Hong Kong has risen to 146 on Sunday, while the fate of 150 people is still unclear as the search operations continued on the fifth day.

Eight people, including a woman connected with the renovation work of the buildings that caught fire on Wednesday, were arrested by Hong Kong's anti-corruption body for allegedly using inflammable and substandard materials.

State-run Xinhua quoted local officials as saying that the death toll in the fire rose to 146, with a firefighter among the dead.

Investigations into the fire accident are underway with many unanswered questions, especially how seven high-rise buildings with 1,984 apartments, housing around 4,600 residents, caught fire.

The status of 150 people is unclear, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

Also, survivors complained that fire alarms in the buildings did not work; as a result, people had no early warning.

Following the incident, China has launched a nationwide inspection of fire hazards in high-rise residential and public buildings all over the country.

In a notice issued on Saturday, the Work Safety Committee of the State Council instructed local governments to immediately carry out checks and fix problems in occupied residential towers, office buildings, hospitals and shopping complexes.

The campaign aims to prevent accidents linked to renovation work, ageing facilities and blocked evacuation routes, state-run China Daily reported.

Chris Tang Ping-keung, Secretary for Security of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, told the media on Friday that the fire first broke out in the lower-level perimeter nets, igniting foam boards and spreading rapidly to other buildings.

This caused the glass to shatter, the fire to intensify sharply and spread indoors, resulting in a disaster with large-scale simultaneous ignition, he said.

High temperatures burned the bamboo scaffolding, and falling burning bamboo pieces set fire to other scaffolding nets.

As the flats were completely burnt, the survivors have been accommodated in 1000 empty flats nearby.